Property boss sells $15m two-bed beach house, buys $32m digs down the road

There are only seven houses that line the waterfront at the northernmost end of Palm Beach on exclusive Waratah Road, so when one of them comes up for sale you know it must be with good reason.

All of which raises the question, why has Crownland Developments boss Andrew Wiesener listed Hibiscus Cottage, and for how much?

The answer is $15.5 million, given the guide by LJ Hooker’s BJ and David Edwards, and the reason is he’s bought something better a few doors away.

Not that Hibiscus Cottage isn’t without its charm. The two-bedroom house was built in the 1930s and comes with absolute water frontage, and a boat shed and ramp.

It was previously owned by mining industry veteran Nick Curtis, and later Jill Wran, widow of former premier Neville Wran, who sold it to Wiesener’s corporate interests in 2016 for $6.95 million.

In the absence of a settlement record or agent disclosures, it is left to local sources to reveal that Wiesener’s new digs is another of the cul-de-sac’s original cottages but on a double block of some 1300 square metres.

His purchase price is about $32 million, give or take a million, which makes it the second most expensive sale in the suburb after former garbo Ian Malouf’s $40 million digs on Iluka Road.

The house has long been regarded as among the best on Pittwater. From 1926 it was owned by Edmund Resch jnr, son of Swifts owner and Reschs brewer Edmund Resch, until it sold in 1953 for £5500. Since then, it has been owned by generations of the Henchman and Walsh families.

Incidentally, when the Reschs sold it was made up of three blocks, but the third block was sold off in 1998 for $2.1 million to conservative commentator Rowan Dean, who sold it in 2010 for $7.25 million to Ottomin Group founder Richard Kovacs.

Big coin in Killara

Bitcoin mining boss and former young rich lister Will Roberts and his partner Larissa Chan have bought the landmark Grange residence in Killara for $16.58 million.

It’s a good result given the guide was $13 million by Sotheby’s Scott Farquhar, who listed it on behalf of Lendlease’s head of private equity Paul Snushall and his wife Lisa.

For their money, the Roberts-Chan family have a grand 1935-built residence with tennis court, pool and billiard room: a decent upgrade from their recent North Willoughby rental.

The 34-year-old Roberts, who with his big brother Dan is co-chief and co-founder of the Nasdaq-listed bitcoin miner Iren (nee Iris Energy), took possession a week ago as the company’s share price nudged a three-month high of $US10.90.

But it hasn’t all been good news and champagne of late. Less than a week earlier the Federal Court’s Justice Brigitte Markovic handed down a judgment that offered less welcome news related to the bitcoin mining firm’s involvement in the default on $105 million in equipment loans.

To explain, the PwC Canadian bankruptcy arm was last year appointed receiver of two of Iren’s subsidiaries that had collapsed owing $US115 million to bitcoin trading and banking firm Nydig.

Nydig had twice tried to make Iren liable for the loan through Canadian courts, but failed. PwC has since pursued Iren over the debts.

Despite claims by Iren’s lawyers that the legal action was vexatious, Justice Markovic has allowed PwC to potentially investigate Iren’s accounts as well as compel examination of the Roberts brothers.

The bros last ranked on the AFR Young Rich List in 2021 with an estimated worth of $484 million.

Pull of Plunkett Road

Trevor Matthews, the former AMP director who recently stepped down as chair of the State Insurance Regulatory Authority, and his wife Michele have listed their Mosman home Yoorama on prized Plunkett Road for $30 million.

The Matthews bought into the street in 2004 for $5.8 million, and commissioned architects Robert Grubb and Michael MacCormick to design the five-bedroom residence with Volker Klemm gardens. The result won the 2015 Master Builders Association award for excellence in housing and pools.

The Agency’s Kingsley and Nic Yates have the listing.

Shark’s home play

Sporty types will appreciate this: Cronulla Sharks legend Luke Lewis has listed his Cronulla home for about $9.5 million to the early $10 million range.

Lewis, a two time NRL premiership winner with the Panthers and Sharks, retired in 2018, having bought the Cronulla home in 2013 for $2.5 million.

Jon Brookes, of Brookes Partners, has listed the four-bedroom house on an oceanfront reserve.

Meanwhile, decorated former Socceroo Aaron Mooy is selling his Byron Bay home a year after he bought it from property tycoon Terry Agnew.

Mooy paid $3.6 million for the Ewingsdale property, but has listed it with Sotheby’s Will Phillips with a 2024 guide of $3.5 million.